NBC7 Investigates with Mari Payton reports on the more than 200 people missing from San Diego – some for decades.
This year alone in the city of San Diego, nearly 1,000 adults have been reported missing.
“There is misconception that someone has to be missing a certain amount of time before they could be reported missing, and that's not true,” Lt. Paul Rorrison with the San Diego Police Department said. He leads their Missing Persons Unit and has been with the department for 28 years.
The good news, he said, is most of the people reported missing in San Diego this year have been found. According to Rorrison, it's important to report a missing person to law enforcement right away.
“You know with technology these days, with DNA and those types of things, we never give up; there's always hope,” he said.
The SDPD relies heavily on the public for their help and any tip - big or small – might help reunite a family with their missing loved one.
“You have to think about it, if it were your family member, what would you want someone to do?” Rorrison said.
NBC 7 Investigates has launched “Searching for San Diegans.” It’s a searchable database where you can see who is missing and learn details about who each person is.
Local
To search our database of all adults and children missing in San Diego County, click here.
Here are just a few stories NBC 7 Investigates has been tracking.
[[344194592, L]] Cloudia Leslie Wells, 61
Cloudia Leslie Wells was last seen April 10, 1998 at a YWCA shelter in San Diego.
According to her daughter, Wells battles mental health issues and a heart condition. She may be using the names Diane, Diana, Cloudia, Claudia, Leslie, Sarah, Linda.
She is approximately five feet to 5’2″ tall, weighing 145 – 155 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes.
Her daughter, Robin Burton live in Illinois. Earlier this year, Burton made a trip to Southern California to search for her mother at area homeless shelters. Click here to see the story from our Los Angeles NBC station.
Burton told NBC 7 Investigates, “My love for my mom is unconditional. No one can take away a bond that a mother and daughter have for one another. I just need the public to help be my eyes.”
Burton has also started a Facebook page to bring awareness to her mother’s case and to help others.
[[344194912, L]] Marlane Koue, 54
Marlane Koue was last seen at Pizza Port in Carlsbad around 6:15 p.m. on Oct. 1, 2012.
Police said the Oceanside woman was in the midst of divorcing her estranged husband when she suddenly disappeared.
He was never arrested in Koue's disappearance, but is currently in jail in Mexico for an unrelated crime. Koue is still missing.
Click here to see the original story.
[[344195732, L]] Liz Sullivan, 32
Liz Sullivan, a mother of two, was last seen around 10 p.m. on Oct. 13, 2014, near her home in the Liberty Station area.
Her father, Edward Ricks, traveled from his home in Virginia after his daughter's disappearance last year hoping to find her.
He said, “I feel like she's in trouble. It can happen to you, and when it does it gets very personal and it takes on a whole new light when it happens to you.”
Click here to see the original story.
